Classic Poem

You must know he would give away Vañci with its tall banners
so that we could fill the cooking pots for our families? And thinking
that women of the caste of bards, painted with colors, their arms
swaying like bamboo and their faces glowing, must be paid
for their flowers, he would give away Madurai with its many-storied mansions!
Let us all sing his praises! Come, you people here in need!
Do you want to know who is master of this ancient country?
Like a weight of fresh clay arranged on a potter's wheel
by the potter's skillful children, it is his
to do with as he likes, this cool rice-growing land!